The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth Read Online Free

biplane standards, but weak armament and protection, and the IJN planes would be the Mitsubishi A5M, a monoplane fighter with a higher speed (although still only around 235kt) and again a weak armament. It was therefore suggested that they requirement should try and meet the one currently being looked at for the RAF, which was a monoplane of at least 300kt speed with a heavy armament of 8 .303 guns or an equivalent. A number of British manufacturers claimed they could come close to this even with the current radial engines, and if a higher powered engine could be developed then they could exceed this.
    Consideration was given to pressing for development of a more powerful engine, and as a result some discussions were held with the Bristol company, the main supplier of radial aircraft engines in the country. There was some surprise at the Admiralty that the company didn't see any need for more powerful engines than those in their current inventory, since the FAA could clearly see advantages in an engine in the 1200-1500hp range for a fighter and for a better dive bomber and TBR aircraft. Informal discussions with Roy Fedden at Bristol led to the interesting possibility of developing what he was calling the Hercules engine with a version available for test flights in 1935. This would allow it to be used for a fighter developed for acceptance in late 1936, which was the FAA's preferred timescale. Such an engine could also be used to drive a dive bomber capable of delivering a 1,000lb bomb (or a 500lb bomb at longer ranges). This was a weight of bomb that would allow the FAA to sink or seriously damage any ship short of a battleship, and indeed only modern battleships would be safe against it. Fedden also pointed out (without wanting to be quoted, of course), that considerable pressure might have to be applied to the Bristol board to persuade them to develop the engine. The Admiralty, fresh from its victory over the RAF, so no reason why they couldn't persuade an engine company to do as requested - especially if they were funding the engine. As a result a contract to get the Hercules available for flight testing in mid-1935 was placed with Bristol (the initial contacts had been resisted by the Bristol board - well known for its reluctance to try what they saw as unnecessary advances - however after the Admiralty had leant hard on the Bristol board of directors, mentioning getting the engine developed by Napier, or even in the USA, they had been persuaded), and the proposed performance made available to the aircraft companies.
    A pair of fighter designs were chosen for development; the Gloster G.38 and the Bristol type 153. Both were specified to fly in early 1936 so as to be in production at the beginning of 1937 in time for operational use before the new carrier completed. The initial designs had been for lightweight land based planes, but the naval requirements meant they would have to be heavier and more robust. The power of the Hercules engine would compensate for that. The armament posed problems, as there was still ongoing argument both in the RN and the RAF as to the best choice of weapon. It was found that the RAF was going for 8 .303 machine guns. While this was considered a good armament, there were issues as to the size and destructive power of the bullet against bombers. In the end it was decided to develop two prototype aircraft with different wings, one carrying eight .303 as the RAF designs, and one with four .5 inch as an alternative. A final decision could then be made later when the expected opposition could be better evaluated. The chosen aircraft was expected to show a performance of over 300kt, and allow a heavy armament as well as the longer range required by a naval aircraft.
    The future after these planes was considered to be a longer term issue, especially as it was known that land-based air was currently in the throes of defining a new generation of higher-performance aircraft. It was complicated by the